Means to operate piano pedal mechanisms under control of a record



Apnl 26, 1927. TIF. CHEEK MEANS TO OPERATE PIANO PEDAL MECHANISMS UNDER EQNfI'ROL 0; A RECORD Filed Sept. 25. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 b/hmw 1%;

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' April 26, 1927. 1,626,328

T. F. CHEEK MEANS TO OPERATE PIANO PEDAL MECHANISMS UNDER CONTROL OF A RECORD Filed Se t. 25, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'TOLBERT Ii. CREEK, '0]? NEXVYORK, N. Y., AS SIGNOB TO VELTE-MIGNON GQRPORA TION, OF NEW women. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MEANS TO OPERATE PIANO PEDAL MECHANISMS UNDER CONTROL OF A RECORD.

Application filed September ly, instead of under control oi? e record, ln/se player llllt-Cllklllli ns---1. e. of theoutside or cabinet typo-have always been provided with projecting levers or the like which are mounted in the-casing or cabinet and operate directly or in the pedals of the piano, which is well lmownare alw -,arran d close to thel'loor. lit-cordinglv, it has he i the practice to encase the p tying mechanism in a cabinet thecbody of which extends almost to thevl'loor. Such a cabinetpresents a boxy and inartistic and displeasing ap pearance, and is insan One of the in'iport-ant purposes oil the present invntion is to provide piano playing; chanienis ot the outside or cabinet itypc th means wherebythe sostenu'to,-0r snst .ng', and soft pedal ineihanisms or the; 10 may be operated under control of a record Without necessitating that the bottoin'ot the cabinet beclosevto the floor to inclosc means to operate upon the pedals then'iselves, thereby enabling the cabinet to be mounted, on legs which sustain it well above the floor of the room, and consequently to be more sanitary and to present a more artistic and pleasing effect.

Other purposes of the invention have to do with the provision of most practicable means tor opera ing; the pedal mechanisms under control of mechanism contained in the casin of an outs de orcahinet piano player n n .(l to be n'iovable into and M relationwith the piano.

w "in j willho readily understood tollowing (IlBSClLPElOII of the prereil veinhodiment of the intention illusated in the accompanying drawings, wherein iliQ characters of reterence denote corresponding partsuin both of the figures inxwhich:

l is aside viewo'l the forward vpartot a grand piano and of aicabinet playe' in operative relation therewith, :mainly in ele- 25, 1923. Serial No. 664,707.

i ation but with certain parts broken away and other parts in section to disclose cle-' inents necessary to an understanding of the present invention, and with all other clemen of tilt) piano and player omitted,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representat on particularly showing tne parts o thepla' ccr mechanism and piano germane to the present invention.

Pianos, both of the upright and grand type, are universally provided with a damp- ,er, as A, ,toreach string, or set of strings givingtorth the same tone; and with a connection from each of said dampers to the correspondingpiano key, each of which connectionsnsually includes a pivoted member, as a, which engagesthe end of vthe correspondinqidalnperrod (1 Pianos, moreover, are universally provided with hammers, one of which is shown and is marked B, whose number corresponds with the innnber oft strings, or sets of strings giving forth the same tone. These hammers are connected with the lief S of the piano, respectively. Theror elation oi the parts is such that when any key of a piano is struckthe correspond-ii han'nneris moved to strilzethe string, onset of stringslnpon wh ch it operates and snnnltaneonsly therewith the corsaid responding damper is raised from stri g or set of strings, through the me ,otihenien'ihers of the piano action by each key connected. with the corresoo ing hammer and damper. pa 'icnlar fOl'lll of said action is notlessential to the present invention and as many suitable constructions are Well known-I have considered it to'be unnecessary to illustrate or to set forth in detail, ,anyof the same herein, exrcpt as to those elements which are most intimately connected with,or torni parts oft. the pedalmechanisms, and as to these ole ,inent-s,l have illnstrated them in connectimi with a grand tion is equally applicable topianos of the upright type. v

These pedal mechanisms universally in; clude a tenuto or sustainingpedal, as C, and a-soltpedal, D The loud or sust' inlong: pedal has so hle connection by me:

of elements terror 5; parts 01"" vthe sostenuto pedalniechanism,with a member, damper rail C which isconnnon to all/the dampers, and which member is operatedto move aiil the dampers away from their strings when the pedal depressed and to hold them in that position until the pressure on the pedal has been removed. thereby giving; sustained effects to all notes which are being sounded while said pedal is thus depressed, it being understood that the dampers unless thus held will fall gravitationally into re-en easement with the corresponding strings as soon as the pressure on the corresponding piano key is removed. ihe damper rail is shown as being: pivoted at C to enable it to swing; about a horizontal axis and operative ly related to the lever a and it will be understood that in practice it engages the entire series of said levers in orner that it may move and hold the dampers away from their strings. The illustrated connection between it and the sustaining pedal 0 includes a lever C which is pivoted at one of its ends, 0. so that it may swing upon a horizontal axis from its said end. a d has its opposite end in contact with, but not necessarily secured to, the upper end of a rod, 0 which is pivoted at its lower end to the inner end of the loud pedal. The intermediate portion of the lever C carries the damper rail rod 0 whose upper end supports the damper rail C. The soft pedal D in practice is variously connected with appropriate parts of the piano mechanism to bring about the softellects which its operation is intended to accomplish. In some instances, itoperates to interpose a muftler between the hammer and string: in other instances it operates to shift the entire series of hammers nearer to the strings whereby their stroke is shortened: in still other instances it shifts the hammers laterallysomet-iines also shifting the keys as well as the hammersso that each hammer strikes one string; only in pro during the tone. My invention is not particularly concerned with which of these diil erent means the soft pedal is correlated to produce its purpose. In other words, it is applicable to any of the same, although I have herein illustrated it as applied to that type in which the hammers B. are moved nearer to the strings, the drawing showing a vertically movable rail D. which in practice. as will be readily understood, is common to the several hammers. and is raised when the soft pedal is depressed. it being connected with the free end of a lever D" by a rod (7' and said free end of the lever being connected with the inner end of the soft pedal ll'by a rod 117'.

As already brought out hereii the parts thus tar set forth are merely exemplary ot pedal mechanisms and associated parts commonly embodied in pianos as now constructed. and they are only illustrated herein in order that my means tor operating said understood My said meansincludes two power members. herein illustrated as pneumatics E and F. for applying to said pedal mechanisms, respectively, the power which operates the same under control of a record. These power members are outside the player and, preferably, are carried by the piano itself and they are so correlated with the respective pedal mechanisms that they do not interfere with the foot operation of the pedals when the pl: yer is being played by hand. It advantageous and. therefore, preferred that they. apply their power to elements oi the penal mechanisms other than the pedals themselves. so that they do not depend tor their operation upon any open tion of said pedals when the piano is being played under control of a. record. They are here illustrated, for exemplary purposes, as being arranged to apply their power to the levers (7 and D, respectively.

As already stated they are nelerably carried by the piano, while the mechanism which controls their operation under control of a record is mounted in a casing or cabinet marked G, outside of the piano itself and which is movable relatively to the piano and power members. This cabinet G also contains usual or any suitable mechanism, not necessary to disclose, for operating the piano keys under control of a record, including strike levers, g, protruding from the back ol? the casing G to engage the piano keys. re spectively, when the player is in operative relation with the piano. As these cabinets when in operative relation with the piano interfere with the manual playing ot' the latter, and hence it is customary to move them away from the piano when the latter is to be played by hand, it is part of my in vention to provide connections between the power members E and F and the player, of a nature which will permit the required movement of the latter to and away from the piano and power members. This is well accomplished in the herein exemplified form of the invention by the use of couplings, as 38, 4-2, of any suitable detachable nature in the connections between the power members and the control means for said power members in the cabinet.

Record controlled inechanisn'is for playing pianos now connnonly used are of pneu matic nature and have a tracker bar, as I. provided witl .uitahle atmospheric ducts, a s 2', through which air is admitted under control of a record. not shown. to operate pneumatic means which in turn control the operation of the striker levers (7, the present. practice also preferring that these pneumatic mechanisms operate upon the exhaust principle; that is to say, that they include means for producing exhaust tension within the mechanism and elements by wh ch the pneumatics are controllable subjected to such tension and to air at atmospheric pressure in the ill) 1' till operations of; the neumatics. 1 too, prefer to employ pneumaticmechanisms and those which operate on the exhaust principle and, therefore. have illustrated and will describe in detail an embodiment t my invention oi a rmeumatic nature and operating upon the exlnu'ast principle, butv would have it understood that the invention in certain of its broad aspects as defined by appended claims is not restricted: thereto.

The illustrated power members E and I1 are bellows which will colla me when their interiors are subjected to air at a pressure less than that of the atmosphere and will expand when their interiors are again opend to air at atmospheric pressure, it being understood, or course. that the exteriors ot jch bellows are always subjected to air at atmor-spheric pressure and. that they are eo1nmonly provided with spring-s which are connected with the movable nm-bers thereof and are arranged to move said members outward when the pressure within the bellows is such with relation to the pressure without the bellows that the sprii'nrs may act to accomplished the purpose referred to.

, The 1' -i'1euinatic control n-ieehanism which I. prefer to use includes a double valve, co1nsing members 11, to control the air tensions with n the bellows E and a like double valve. comprising members 12l3, to control the air tensions within the bellows i These double valves are pneumatically operated preferably by the means hereinafter described, under control ot a record whicln as will be readily understood, provided 'IUL' this purpose with perforations additional to those which control the operations of the striker lovers, the mechanism including ducts i3 and riwhich extend from special tr eker apertures 15 and 16 to be opened to the at mospherc at predetermined, times by the regiswtion of the additional record-perform lions therewith. A double looking or relei sing valve comprising members 17 and 18 provided tor the double valves 10-ll and a double locking or releasing valve comprising members 119 and 20 is provided tor the double valves '12-ll3. These locking or releasing valves- 1 (hereinafter called locking valves for brevitys sake) are similarly controlled by the record wl'iich for this purpoe has additional perforations to register v... special tracker apertures 21 and 2:2 to thereby open to the atmosphere special control ducts if and 2e, res 'icctively. tor the releas in}: operation. Y

The several valves reterred to are arranged. in a box or unitwhich is constructed to provide a chamber for the double valves lO--ll; a similar chamber 26 for the double valves 12l3; chambers 27 and 28 for the respective locking valves 1718 and 19-20; chambers 29 and 30 into whicht-he ducts 1.33 and 14: open; chambers 3-1 and 32 into which the ducts 23 and 2% open; and a comn'io'n conduit which is constantly under exhaust tension produced by the n'ieans, not shown, employed to produce such non throughoi-it the mechanism and wi h rich it has connectionthrough a duct 34.

Zh'c chamber is provided with an ext port to theromluit 33 and with an a inospheri-c port 36 and has communication with the interior of the power pneumatic E through a duct which comprises two members 37 and 37 and a suitable coupling 38 by which said. members are detacl'iably connected with each other. The Cllitll'lbfi? 26 similarly is provided with an exhaust port. 39. and an atn'iospheric port, 40. and has communicat on with the interior of the power pneumatic F through a duct which com prises two members and 41 detachably" connected with each other by a suitable coir The chamber, 2-7 and 28 have unication with the Sttion conduit through exhaust ports and ll, respective ly, and with the atmos ihere through ports and 41:6. respectively. "he valve i-nci'nheif's 1t) and 11 are mounted on a stern l? one of whose ends operatively related to a men'ihrane -18 whose opposite sides are subjected. to the air tensions in the chamber 29 and suction conduit 33 and the other of whose ends is operatively related to a membrane 49 whose opposite sides are sul'n jected to the air tensions in chambers 50 and The chamber 51 has comn'runicat on witlithe chamber 25 throng" a channel 59 so that the tension of the air therein is always the same as that in tl'i'e chambe '3 and the chamber 50 has c nnnunication with the chamber 27 through a channel 53 so that the air tensions in these two chan'ibers is always the same. Similarly the valve members 1 13 are moun-ted on a stem 54 one oit whose ends operatively related to a membrane 55 whose opposite sides are subjected to the 25 r tensions in the chamber 30 and suction conduit 33, and theother ot whose ends operatively related to a nienihrane 56 one of whose sides is subjected to the teusEon in a chamber 57' which has connnunicutioa with the chamber 26 through a channel 58. and. the other of: whose sides is subjected to the air tension in a chamber which has coniimunlcation with the chamber 28 through a channel 60. Thesuctioneonduit ha commnnjicati with the chambers 29, 30. ill and t l-iron bleed holes 61 (52, 63 and 64a respectively.

It will thus be seen that the correlation of the parts in this illustrated embodiment of the invention is such that when the player mechanism is in operation and the conduit 33 is thereby under suction, but with all of: the tracker apertures 15, 11% 21 and 22 closed, the air in the ducts 13, 1%, 23 and 24, and

in chambers 30,31 and 32 will be rare- Jun tit:

similarly the valve members 1718 and 19- will be in such relation to the ports l3- l5 and 14 16 that the suction ports 13 and it will be closed and the atmospheric ports i5. 46 will be open. Hence, the power member ii at this time will be expanded. as its interior is in communication with the at inosphere through port 36, chamber and duct members 37. 37. and the power member F also will be expanded as its interior likewise is in communication with the atmosphere through port 410, chamber 26 and duct members 41. ll. At the same time, the chambers 50 and 51 will be under atmospheric pressure the latter chamber (51) through channel 52 leading thereto from chamber 25. and chamber 50 through channel 53, chamber '27 and port Similarly. the chambers 57 and 59 will both be under atmospher c pressure-chamber 57 through channel 58. chamber 26 and port- 40, and chamber 59 through channel 60, chamber 28 and port 16.

It now the duct 13 be opened to the atmosphere by the registration of a recordperforation with the tracker aperture 15, air at atmospheric pressure will instantly e admitted to the chamber 29. thereby distending membrane 18 and raising the valvemenibors 1(l11 whereupon the atmospheric port 36 will be closed and suction port will be opened. The power pneumatic E beingthus placed under suction will collapse, its movable member acting upon the lever C, through its projection to raise the damper rail C and thereby lift all the dampers from the strings. At the same time. the closingof the atmospheric port 36 and the openine of the suction port 35 will place the chamber 51 under suction and as the air in chamber is at this time atmospheric PlGFSUlG through channel chamber 27 and port a5 it will follow that the valves 10 and 11 will be maintained in the position to which they were moved as a consequence of the opening of duct 13. until the tension. of the air in chamber 50 is reduced. by the openingof duct 28 under con- 'trol of the record. This opening of the duct will. cause air at atmospheric pressure to be admitted to chamber 31, thereby distendin membrane 56 and causing valve members 1718 to be raised and to close atmosphere port {t5 and open suction port e3, respectively. The air in chamber 50 is thereby attenuated through port 43, cham ber 27 and channel whereupon the tensions of the air in chambers 50 and 51 beingthus relatively such that the pressures on opposite Sides of the membrane 49 will be equalized as are also the tensions of the air exerted on opposite sides of the membrane t8the valve members 10, 11 will fall, thereby instantly opening the chamber to the atmosphere. Air at atmospheric pressure being thus admitted through ducts 37, 37 to power pneumatic E will cause the latter to be expanded. whereupon the damper rail will tall. so that it no longer holds any ot the dampers away from the strings. These parts are now ready tor a repetition of the operation just described, it being turther noted that at this time the air in chambers 29 and 31 and ducts 13 and 23 will be rarefied through the bleed holes 61 and 63 so that the mechanism will be instantly responsive to the admission of air at atmospheric pressure to the ducts 13 and The operation of the parts correlated with the power pneumatic F for moving the hammer rail and hammers nearer to the strings and for returning the same to its normal position is substantially the same as thatv just set forth with relation to the power pneumatic E: the opening of the duct 14 by the registration of a record-perforation with the tracker aperture 16, admitting air at atmospheric pressure to the chamber 30, thereby causing valve members 12, 13 to be moved to open suction port 39 and close atmospheric port 10. thereby placing the interior of pneumatic F and also the chamber 57 under exhaust tension, causing the pneumatic F to collapse and through its movable board 7' and projection f to raise the hammer rail D, and at the same time (arising the atmospheric pressure in chamber 59 to become effective to hold the valve members 12, 1.3 in their said position after duct 14- has been closed and until duct 22 has been opened by the registration of a record perforation with the tracker aperture \Vhen the latter occurs. that is to say when the tracker aperture 22 has been opened, air at atmospheric pressure. will, of course, be admitted to the chamber 32,thereby distending membrane and moving valve members 20 and 19 to open suction port -14 and close atmospheric port- 4t6, so that chamber 59 will now be exhausted and valve members 12, 13 may return to their former posit-ions, closing suction port 36 and opening atmospheric port 40. thereby placing chamber 57 and the interior of the power pneumatic F in communication with the atmosphere, distending said pneumatic and lowering" the hammer rail. and leaving all of the parts in position for a repetition of the before mentioned operation.

lVhen it desired to play the piano by hand. and for this reason, or for any other reason. the cabinet must be removed from its operative relation to said piano it is only necessary to break the connection between itltl lltl the power pnonmatirs I l and l and the u taeretor in the cabinet and this Lay be conveniently and expeditiously done in this exemplilication ot the iirccntion by the Sim .e operation oi uncoupling: the duct iien'iber 37 and 3-7 and duct momb and -il-l from each other.

Having thus described my invention and set vtorth in detail the preferred embodiment thereof, what I believe to be new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, and what I. therefore, claim is:

l. A piano player of the outside or cabi- 1.8 type, movable into and out of operative relation with a piano and including a casing, a series of strike levers movable with the ca g and into position to operate directly upon the keys of a piano, a tracker and pedal control means operative under control. of a record: in combination with power members arranged outside the player, connections between said power members and pedal control means and means under control of the power members to operate the pedal mechanisms of the piano.

2. A piano player of the outside or cabinet type, movable into ano out of operative relation with a piano and including a cas ng, a ri s of strike levers movable with the using and into position to operate directly upon the keys of a piano, and a tracker; in combination with means to operate the pedal mechanisn'is of the piano under control. of record, including pneumatically operative pedal control alves carried by he player and having connection with the tracker, power members outside the player, connections, having separable members, between the pedal control valves and the power members, and members under control of the power members to connect the latter with the pedal mechanisms of the piano.

3. Means to operate the pedal mechanisms of piano under control ot a record, including; a player of the outside or cabinet type having, in addition to the mechanism under control of a. record to operate the keys of the piano, pneumatically operable valves l'o under control ot the record, power members outside the player, connections between said valves and the power members, respectively, members under control of the power members to connect the latter with the pedal mechanisms of the piano, locking valves carried by the player and under control of the record, and connections between the locking valves and the first mentioned valves, respectively.

4t. The combination with a piano having a keyboard and pedal mechanisms, of a player of the outside or cabinet type having record controlled strike levers to operate d rectly upon the keys of the piano and also having record controlled pedal control means, and power members arranged outside the player and u)erali-:ely rented to said pedal mechanisms and connectcdwith the control means of the player to be operative under control of the latter.

5. The combination with a piano having a lgeyboard and pedal mechanisms, including pedals, ot a player of the outside or cabinet type having record controlled strike levers to operate directly upon the keys of t 1e piano, and also having record controlled pedal control means, and power members arranged outside the player and operatively related to said pedal me'clr us to operate the same independently 0}" the pedals, and connections between said power members and the pedal control means of the player to cause the power members to be operated under control of said means.

6. The combination with a piano having a keyboard and pedal mechanisms, and a player of the outside or cabinet type, having record controlled strike levers to operate directly upon the keys 0]": the piano, and also having record controlled pedal con- 'trol valves, of power pneumatics arranged outside the player and operatively related to said pedal i'nechanisms and having eonnection with said control valves, to operate the pedal mechanisms under control of the control valves in the player.

7. The com 'nation with a piano having pedal mechanisms, and power members having connection with said pedal mechanisms to operate the same to produce pedal effects, of a player of the outside or cabinet typo movable into and out oi operative relation with the piano and relatively to the power members and provided with control means under control of a record to control the power members.

8. The combination with a piano having pedal mechanisms and power members having connection with said pedal mechanto operate the same to produce pedal of a player of the outside or cabinet movable into and out of operative rela with the piano and relatively to the membe and means forming part 0 player to control the power member said means being under control of a recm and including locking members to control the action of said means with relation to the power members.

9. The combination with a piano havingloud and soft pedal mechanisms, and power pneumatics, respectively, having connection with said pedal mechanisms to operate the same, of a player or the outside or cabinet type,movable into and out of operative relation with the piano and relatively to the power members, the player incl a tracker, control valves having 'con ection vith the tracker, means to connect the con--' trol valves to the power members, respecllll ill

tively, and locking: valves having connection with the tracker and with the control valves 10. The combination with a piano having loud and soft pedal mechanisms, including pedals. and power pnenmatics, respectively. having connection with said pedal mechanisms to operate the same independently of t e pedals. of a player of the outside or c 4 incl type. n'iovable into and out of operative relation with the piano and relatively to the power members. the player ii'icluding a tracker. control valves having connection with the tracker. means to connect the control valves to the power members. respectively and lockingvalves having connection with the tracker and with the control valves. the connection between the control valve and the power members inclnlling disconnectible elements.

ll. In combination: a piano having dampers. hai mers. a keyhoarc and pedal mechanisms. including pedals; a player of the (nitside or cabinet vpe movable relatively to the piano and having: record controlled devices to engage and operate the piano keys when the player is in position to operate the piano; power members for the pedal mechanisms. respect-ivehf, mounted outside the player and operative upon the pedal mechanisms independently of the pedals; means carried by the player to control the power members. respectively; and operative connections between the control means and power members permitting relative movement of the player and power members.

12. In combination: a piano having dampers. hammers. a keyboard and pedal mechanisms, inchidingz pedals; a player oi the outside or cabinet type movable relatively to the piano and having record controlled devices to engage and operate the piano keys when the player is in position to operate the piano; power members for the pedal niechani is, respectively, mounted outside the player and operative upon the pedal mechanisms independently of the pedals: means carried by the player to control the power members, rl'espectively. including record controlled. control "alves and record controlled locking: valves for the control valves; and operative connections between the control means and power members permitting relative movement of the player and power members.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

TOLBERT F. (-HEEK.

Cir 

